Travelers on a Long Road
by sol-li
Summary: Two unwilling travelers are on a long road to recover the Shikon shards, arguing all the way. But then Kagome gets a few glimpses of what Inuyasha is like on the inside.


I swear, I am SO close to throttling him, Kagome thought.

She watched Inuyasha out of the corner of her eye, determined not to look at him directly. Besides, every time she did, he took offense at it and told her to "quit staring, dammit!" I swear, she thought, pushing her bicycle over a bump in the path. He just drives me crazy. His attitude is the worst that I've ever seen.

It had been only a week since they had first agreed to team up to retrieve all the shards of the Shikon jewel - in that time, they had gotten one shard back, dealt with a malevolent hair-demon, as well as Inuyasha's cold-hearted half-brother. And Kagome was starting to wonder if that was a mistake. How could she hunt down dozens, maybe hundreds of shards with a guy who hated her for no good reason?

After the battle with Sesshomaru, Kagome thought that Inuyasha was starting to soften toward her. But the next few days that they spent traveling seemed to dispel that idea. He was crabby as ever, now that they didn't have Kaede around. She was glad he had that rosary around his throat - she wouldn't have felt safe if it hadn't been there.

Well, it's not MY fault I look like this Kikyo woman, she thought, peeved. But you'd think I looked like her on purpose, the way he acts!

They continued in silence for awhile, with Inuyasha silently glowering and Kagome trying to think of math equations in her head. Her feet were starting to ache a little; she was used to walking the distance to school and back again, but not much more. But the girl forged ahead stoicly, ignoring the pain in her feet.

"Whatcha limping for?" Inuyasha said suddenly.

Kagome started. "Huh?"

"You're goin' way too slow, and you're limping."

"If I'm holding you back, you can go on ahead," Kagome said a little stiffly.

Inuyasha snorted. "Feh. What would the use of THAT be? If I go on ahead, I just have to wait for you anyway. Specially since you're the only one who sees jewel shards. I could've cleared all this distance in half an hour, no problem."

"Well, my feet hurt," Kagome burst out. "I can't help it. I'm not used to walking this much!"

She limped to the nearest clearing, then sat down gingerly beside her bicycle. The sky was all soft and cloudy above them, except for a few gaps where blue skies showed through, and the crickets were singing in the grass. It was all kind of pretty, actually. Especially since Inuyasha's ill temper left with him, as he stomped off in the direction of the river.

Kagome settled down on a patch of soft moss to read her schoolbooks. After all, there was no point in getting too behind in her studies. Several times she blinked herself out of a drowse, and tried to focus on those elusive formulae... now if only her brain would stop wandering...

Then she woke with a start. The sun was setting in the west, casting a soft glow over the clouds. And Inuyasha was squatting by the campfire, holding a stick with a half-eaten fish on it in. "Oh, you're awake," he said through a mouthful of fish. "That one's yours."

Kagome blinked. Then she saw another stick stuck in the ground by the fire, with a roasted fish on the end of it. One that was substantially larger than Inuyasha's. "Uh, thank you," she said, picking it up.

She cautiously began nibbling on the fish, then eating it faster. She was mostly done when she felt Inuyasha staring at her. There was a weird expression in his eyes - one she had seen before when he thought she wasn't looking. "Do you want the rest of this?" she asked.

The loook vanished. "Nah," Inuyasha said.

"Come on, I'm already full," Kagome lied, holding out the half-eaten fish. "If you don't, it'll just go to waste."

Inuyasha stared at her for a moment. Then he snatched the fish away, turned his back, and began eating it so fast that Kagome thought he would choke himself. A sudden, unexpected pang of pity went through her. I wonder if he's gone hungry before, she thought. He doesn't want to admit it, because he thinks it makes him look weak.

When he was finished, he tossed the stick and bones into the fire, and watched them smolder. Kagome watched him for a moment, noticing something for the very first time. "You know something?" she asked.

"What?" he asked gruffly.

"When you're not scowling, you have a really nice face."

Inuyasha looked as if he had just been zapped by a live wire. Then his face darkened. "Don't make fun of me!" he snapped.

"I'm not making fun of you!" Kagome retorted. "I meant what I said. You actually DO have a nice face - people just don't notice it because you're always scowling at them-"

"Shut up!" A red flush was spreading over Inuyasha's cheeks. "I ain't buyin' that! And I don't let ANYBODY make fun of me!"

"For the last time-" Kagome jumped up, clenching her fists, "-; I am not making fun of you, you stubborn idiot! You have a nice face when you don't scowl, and that's the end of it!"

Inuyasha looked both shocked and outraged. Then with a grimace, he stood up and stalked out of the clearing. Kagome could hear him muttering as he strode away, until the faint curses died away into silence. Annoyed, she picked up her math book and began staring intently at the formulae. But her mind kept pulling itself back to Inuyasha, rather than the value of x.

Half an hour later, Kagome started to worry. She set down her book and began walking in the direction Inuyasha had gone. Was he not coming back? She pushed aside branches and long grass, glancing around for any flashes of red or silver. At least the half-demon was easy to spot.

Then she saw him. He was kneeling by a little pond, with his face almost touching the water. At first, Kagome thought he was catching more fish - but then, she saw that he was just staring. At himself. Was he using the pond as a mirror... because of what she had said?

He was so engrossed by his reflection that he failed to hear Kagome coming. She bent close and said, "Hey..."

Inuyasha pitched forward into the pond, floundering as he struggled to stand up. "What-what the..." he half gasped, half snapped. "Don't sneak up on me like that!"

"I was going to tell you that my feet feel okay now," Kagome said. "But it's late, so maybe we should both get some sleep

Inuyasha wrung out the sleeves of his red clothing. "Sure, whatever," he groused, following her back to the campsite, and leaving a trail of wet footprints behind him. Neither of them spoke much more that evening, and Kagome fell asleep with her math book as a makeshift pillow.

The next morning's sunrise was beautiful, even with Inuyasha grousing and scratching himself all over the campsite. As they walked along country roads and paths, Kagome glanced over at the sullen half-demon, who was looking suspiciously at the rice paddocks off to the side. He may be rude, crude, and almost impossible to talk to sometimes, she thought, but he does have his good sides. In time, he might just let himself be... nice, if he can figure out that it's not the same thing as being weak. Maybe this trip won't be so bad after all.

THE END


End file.
